Thursday, June 08, 2006

taxonomy of geographic names

toponym = place name "One Tree Hill"toponymy = the study of place names

metonym = a word used in place of something closely associated "Washington" for "United States Government"metonymy = the use of a word or phrase in place of something closely associated

onomastics = science of studying names

allonym = each of two or more toponyms applied to a single geographic feature "Istanbul" and "Constantinople"

anthroponym = personal name given to a place "Washington D.C." or "Lincoln, NE"

endonym = name of a geographical feature in the language of that area "Beijing" and not "Peking"

eponym = name of a person or group of person after or for whom a place is named "Seattle" for Chief Seattle

epotoponym = toponym that supplies the origin of a common noun "Jerez" for sherry; "Olympia" for the Olympics

exonym = name in a specific language for a geographic feature situated outside of the area where that language has official status Warsaw is the English exonym for Warszawa; Londres is French for London

gazetteer = list of toponyms arranged in alphabetic or other sequential order, with an indication of their location and preferably including variant names

hydronym = name applied to a (hydrographic) feature consisting of water the Danube; the Indian Ocean

oronym = name applied to a feature of topographic elevation such as a mountain or a hill "Sierra Madre"

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The books one reads in childhood, and perhaps most of all the bad and good bad books, create in one's mind a sort of false map of the world, a series of fabulous countries into which one can retreat at odd moments throughout the rest of life, and which in some cases can survive a visit to the real countries which they are supposed to represent.
-- George Orwell

Geography and space are always gendered, always raced, always economical and always sexual. The textures that bind them together are daily re-written through a word, a gaze, a gesture.
-- Irit Rogoff